Lately, I’ve been doing a lot of research that involves new product concepts, web pages, packaging mockups and other types of stimuli. As a researcher, I’ve always been willing to provide feedback to clients on the stimuli they create, and they’re generally receptive to my suggestions. With that in mind, here are two immutable market research principles that we should all keep in mind when creating research stimuli.
1 – Research participants can only respond to something that’s in front of them. It’s difficult for most people to form an opinion on something entirely hypothetical. If you need to understand what flavors consumers might be interested in for your sports drink, don’t expect them to tell you; they’re going to need a list. If you want to know what menu options users would like on your web page, your mockup needs an example for them to react to. And if you want to know how much they might be willing to pay for that sports drink, your concept will need to include some pricing information—there’s no sense in asking ‘how much would you pay?’ In other words, people can’t generally tell you what they want—you need to show them something you think they might want and see if they agree.
2 – Research participants cannot help but respond to everything that’s in front of them. Reactions to a stimulus will be shaped by the entirety of that stimulus. And there isn’t any way to tease apart the elements that drove that reaction—you can’t unscramble an egg. So, if you don’t want to talk about price, don’t include one in your concept. If you’re not interested in discussing a new brand logo, don’t include it on your web page wireframe. In other words, stimuli must focus tightly on research objectives, and not include any extraneous information. The more your stimulus contains, the more likely it is that respondents will be distracted by issues that aren’t relevant. Also, don’t include more information in your stimulus than could realistically be found in real-world marketing executions. If there’s only room for one claim on your package, don’t put five in your concept.
Remember – a stimulus is just another way to ask a question. As with every question asked in qualitative research, it should be focused on your research objectives and must contain the right amount of detail.
